I know there there are a million topics on this, but for some reason, I still can't really wrap my head around it. We have 2 kinds of ceiling fans: 1) Minka Aire (DC Motor), which can be controlled through the BOND Home App or a remote and 2) Sufocor (DC Motor), which can only be controlled by its remote. For both fans, the light and the fan are controlled by a single switch. What is the "best" way to control the light and fan speed separately?
For the Minka Aire, I THINK (unless I'm missing something) I can use a Zooz ZEN32 Scene Controller – ZOOZ and the built-in BOND Device driver. I'd make the main button the On/Off for both the fan & light and the 4 buttons dim up/down, fan speed up/down controls, & reverse. Another option is just to use the remote and leave it always hot. For the Sufocor, I really have no idea since I don't have the work around of the BOND Home App, but this is not that big of a deal since it's just for Guest Rooms. Should I just leave this hot & control via the remote only?
I'm open to better ideas and best practices. I've seen the Inovelli Red Fan/Light Switch mentioned around quite a few times, but I can't find these anywhere. I see they also have a Smart Fan/Light Canopy Module, but only for AC Motors.
Thank you in advance! These are the last switches I need to tackle.
Is there currently a dumb switch for power to the ceiling fan?
I've been using Bond and a Z32 for my old Minka fan for years now, and it's been an excellent setup. If hub is down, we can always still use the orignal remote.
2 Likes
For the Sufocor, yeah I just had dumb switches installed, but I'm looking to change it to whatever is best. For the Minka Aire (smart through BOND), there's a Zooz Dimmer there in "Smart Bulb Mode". It turns the fan & light on/off and dims the light, but fan control still has to be done on the remote. To make things even worse, the Minka Aire is in a 3-way, but I'm going to do it once step at a time...
Do you have your Zen32 in Smart Bulb mode? I wasn't entire sure if that was necessary. I've been playing with a virtual device with the community Z32 driver and for some reason, I can't get a "switch" state. Isn't it still a switch or are they just buttons?
This was in the FAQ on Zooz's website:
If you're using the Scene Controller in a 3-way set-up with a mechanical switch on the other side of the installation, you will need to implement a mirroring automation to use the mechanical switch for wireless control of your smart bulbs consisting of 4 separate rules:
- If the Zooz switch is on, turn the smart bulb(s) on.
- If the Zooz switch is off, turn the smart bulb(s) off.
- If the smart bulb is on, turn the Zooz switch on.
- If the smart bulb is off, turn the Zooz switch off.
No, since my Minka doesn't have seperate hot feeds for the light and fan, I just hot-wired line & load in the switch box and pigtailed off the line & neutal to the Z32. That Z32 doesn't have a load -- it's just acting like a scene-controller for the fan (via Bond).
I programmed the Z32 via Button Controller (and then manage the LEDs via RM rules), but mine's not in a 3-way, so I can't help there.
1 Like
For the guest rooms, I think you have to visualize how they will be used. If actual guests, I'd say the simpler the better. I despise overhead lights, so I would never use that. However, maybe have the fan on low, no light, in the summer-then when you come in the room, or turn it on via Hubitat, the fan comes on. Adjust with remote to your liking. Maybe have the switch only do overhead light in winter (I have no idea if you even have seasons, lol).
If you're a guest, something should probably happen when you walk in the room and touch the smart switch paddle. Overhead light, fan, or...does the Zooz now have an indicator light?
Perfect! I'm in the same situation. Just to clarify, do you have the "big button" toggle both the fan & light on/off (like through power, not a rule)? While your 4 "small buttons" are controlling your dim up/down & fan speed? Also, curious how you achieved the light dimming.
Lucky for us, we rarely ever use the fan light - really just when cleaning. So we don't mess with dimming it all... Big button just toggles the light on/off, then small buttons are low, medium, high, and Off (tap) / Reverse (hold).
Zooz does have an indicator light but you can control it through the community driver. And true, I should just probably leave the dumb switch and have them use the remote lol. The Guest Bedroom is the one that has the completely dumb ceiling fan, so I don't even know how to begin controlling it through the hub...
How did you separate control of the light & fan when the Minka doesn't have separate hot feeds for the light & fan? Oh or do you mean your Minka is just always "hot" and you programmatically control the light & fan separately through Z32?
Correct - the fan itself is getting full load power all the time, and then all controls (light and fan) are managed via Bond. The Z32 is simply a physical controller that tells Bond what to do with the fan/light.
ETA - in plainer words, the Z32 is basically just a remote control for Bond; it's big advantage over the old Minka remote is no batteries and it fits nice in that (otherwise empty) switchbox 
1 Like
Awesome! Thank you! That sounds straightforward enough. Do you have any dumb DC motor fans? I still don't really have a solution for that 
It's basically the same situation with a single hot feed for both the light & fan, but except now I don't have a work around of controling the fan throuhg BOND.
I don't unfortunately -- we have a very small house -- just that one ceiling fan.
So wall switch cuts power to the entire fan?
Once it is powered up. how do you control the lights and fan speed? Pull chains?
You might need to see if there is a special remote module you can add to the fan that can be controlled by a Bond hub. DC Fans are tricky.
Yup! So flipping the switch off will power off the whole thing. Light dim, fan speed, and reverse are controlled by a remote. There’s also a power button on it but the fan basically has to be “hot”. There’s a receiver on the canopy of the fan that the remote interacts with. I think the “non-smart” way people would install it is either to keep the fan always hot or controlled by the switch (so you don’t have to shut it off at the breaker if you need to change the lightbulb… but it’s integrated LED so probably will just leave it always hot) and basically the switch would just always be on and you’d just control it with the remote.
It’s almost like I need to replace the receiver with a smart one. The problem is the only one I found by Inovelli only works for AC motors. I could get a smart DC relay (like Zooz), but those are only on/off so would still have to control fan speed through the remote, but at least I can control the on/off and dim of light separately from the on/off of fan.
Exactly. Like if I could get my hands on the module that my smart Minka Air ceiling fans are using and replace the module on my dumb ceiling fans, then it would basically just be the same thing
Edit: Potentially Bond Bridge | Bond but it’s probably not worth it for guest bedrooms. Idk… could be nice if people were visiting in the summer 
For guest rooms.
You have to think about how it's going to be used.
Having the remote by the bedside is nice.
The remote that came with my fan, which came with the, I don't know, 20 year old house, has a bracket for wall mounting, if desired.
I say replace the dumb switch with a smart one; you'll probably find a use for it, at some point.
I have mine turn off at 6 am or so when I get up, in case I forget.
The guide light on the switch is also nice-doesn't Zooz have different colors now?
You could use to to do something else, like a triple tap to disable/enable something or other, turn on a table lamp via a smart plug (of course, you'd have to remember what you did, lol).
I live in a pretty cool climate, so I'm not sure what's going on with all the automating of ceiling fans.
Then again too, I didn't get stove hood automation either.
1 Like
Yes that's why I asked if you already had a remote for it. I have a Bond Bridge controlling two of my AC fans, works good. I got one on eBay for around $60 used, if you watch eBay deals will pop up occasionally.
You are basically only replacing the remote with another remote though. When you use the Bond Bridge you need to hide the original remote and have all control go through the bridge. If not the Bond bridge will lose track of what state the fan is currently in (it is only one way communication just like a remote). The added benefit is you can then link it up with other systems, do automations, etc... That may not be useful for a guest room.
1 Like
Yeah, I probably should've clarified that I use a Bond bridge (the one you linked) with my Minka - my Minka is getting close to 15 years old, so no smart fans or Bond back then.
In the early days of the Bond/Hubitat integration, I did have some syncing issues as both sides were ironing things out, but I haven't had a sync issue is a long time now -- it's been a great setup for us.
The Bond hub can integrate with certain types of shades/blinds and fireplaces (probably more stuff too), so you may have opportunity to make it more worthwhile beyond just the guest fans.
1 Like
